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Author Topic: Exploding Cell Phones Mark J. Marshall Film God Posts: 3188 From: New Castle, DE, USA Registered: Aug 2002 posted 10-07-2003 08:26 AM                    Check this story out: Click Here Text follows... --------------------- Wireless phones have become a way of life for many people but one of those phones knocked one woman for a loop over the weekend. Tina McChristian's granddaughter was full of smiles on Monday but her family had a real scare the day before. Tina says, "I really thought my car was on fire because there was that much smoke." She says the smoke was coming from a new cell phone that the family had just purchased two days earlier. It was sitting on her daughter's lap as they were driving down the street. Tina says, "My daughter screamed 'my phone exploded. Pull over.' It sizzled. It exploded. There's a mark on my seat." Tina says when the phone exploded, the battery blew out of the compartment and ended up lodged in the car seat that held Tina's granddaughter. She says, "The baby could have gotten burned. Or what if my daughter had been using the phone?" Tina says there was absolutely no warning. The phone was just sitting there. It wasn't being charged or used. Tina is thankful that no one was hurt but she says she's a little reluctant about putting a phone up to her ear again. Tina got the phone at Cricket but they turned her over to Kyocera, the manufacturer of the phone. She's waiting to hear back from them about replacement of the phone and possibly the car seat. Six on Your Side contacted Kyocera headquarters and they released a statement saying that they are aware of the incident and are currently investigating the matter. They add that the safety of their products is of utmost importance to them.  |  IP: Logged Paul G. Thompson The Weenie Man Posts: 4718 From: Mount Vernon WA USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 10-07-2003 12:20 PM                     Hearing about battery explosions usually has been rare. However, we all know it can happen. Years ago an aircraft was lost because a lithium battery in a watch shipment from overseas exploded in a cargo hold. It has been a long time ago so I don't remember the date this happened or how many lives were lost as the aircraft crashed. Once I was carrying a 9-volt transistor radio battery in my pocket. A couple of coins in the same pocket apparently shorted out the battery. The battery got so hot it actually burned my leg. Did you ever notice how hot a cell phone battery can get under heavy usage? I remember Nicad batteries used in hand-held communication devices on board ship had a special industrial strength charger that would protect personnel in the immediate area from flying battery remnants and eliminate the possibility of a fire in event of a battery explosion during re-charge. Lead-acid batteries in motor vehicles have been known to explode under curtain circumstances. I know of one that exploded just recently. It was in our KBRC emergency generator. I'll take a picture of it today and post it later. Let's not take for granted that batteries never blow up. They do. The results of the flying battery parts, acids and other chemicals are extremely dangerous.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-07-2003 12:56 PM                        Let's all print up big posters "YOUR CELL PHONE MAY EXPLODE!! PLEASE LEAVE IT IN YOUR CAR FOR SAFETY!" for every theatre lobby. When I first saw this topic, I thought it would link to a Dave Barry article. (I'm sure he'll pick up on it soon!)  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 10-07-2003 03:04 PM                        A few years ago, the lead-acid battery in my van exploded as I turned the key to start the engine. I really thought for an instant that the mob was after me! Even a small amount of hydrogen gas mixed in the right proportions with oxygen can make a very loud BANG and quite a mess of the battery and engine compartment. Air shipments of lithium-ion batteries are a fire risk: http://hazmat.dot.gov/rules/not2000_10.htm http://www.fire.tc.faa.gov/ppt/systems/lithium%20bat%20060602.ppt http://www.fire.tc.faa.gov/pdf/systems/SysJun02Min.pdf Here is a National Transportation Safety Board report about a Federal Express DC-10 aircraft destroyed by a cargo fire of unknown origin: http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/1998/AAR9803.pdf  |  IP: Logged Gerard S. Cohen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 975 From: Forest Hills, NY, USA Registered: Sep 2001 posted 10-07-2003 03:08 PM                     Arab terrorists routinely use cell phones in homicide bombings in Israel, to set off explosives remotely. I'm not sure, but I think the IDF may have used a telephone to execute a terrorist leader who masterminded several very destructive bombings.  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 10-07-2003 05:31 PM                        quote: A few years ago, the lead-acid battery in my van exploded as I turned the key to start the engine. I really thought for an instant that the mob was after me! Do you have video footage of that event?  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 10-07-2003 06:35 PM                        Michael, that comment is insulting and inappropriate... John doesn't use video, he uses FILM!  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 10-07-2003 06:50 PM                        Oh, sorry. So do you have any 70mm footage of the event?  |  IP: Logged Phil Hill I love my cootie bug Posts: 7595 From: Hollywood, CA USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 10-07-2003 08:16 PM                  John said: quote: I really thought for an instant that the mob was after me! Gosh John, dunno what you have done to warrent looking over your shoulder, but next time I see you, I'll only wave from across the room. >>> Phil  |  IP: Logged Paul G. Thompson The Weenie Man Posts: 4718 From: Mount Vernon WA USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 10-07-2003 11:01 PM                     Here is a pic of the battery that blew up last summer.  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 10-08-2003 01:44 PM                        Paul: Looks like my exploding battery, but more of the top blew off on mine. Glad the hood was closed, and it didn't blow up in my face. (Those precautions about keeping sparks away from the battery when "jump starting" a vehicle are worth following). quote: Michael, that comment is insulting and inappropriate... John doesn't use video, he uses FILM! Kodak was one of the first to market 8mm video camcorders in the early 1980's. IMHO, at the time, it was better than any other home video camera on the market. I was involved in the testing. http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/av/2001/07/msg00025.html  |  IP: Logged Mitchell Cope Master Film Handler Posts: 256 From: Overland Park, KS, United States Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-09-2003 08:27 AM                     Nokia cites fake batteries in phone explosions. See Jason's post below for the text. Thanks. [ 10-10-2003, 10:08 AM: Message edited by: Mitchell Cope ]  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 10-09-2003 08:39 AM                        quote: Did you ever notice how hot a cell phone battery can get under heavy usage? If I've had my laptop operating on the same surface for a few hours, the area immediately underneath the battery is like a hotplate when I pack it up again afterwards.  |  IP: Logged Jason Black Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1723 From: Myrtle Beach, SC, USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 10-09-2003 04:14 PM                        Mitchell, Brad must not have noticed that you didn't provide the text of the link... Nokia cites fake batteries in phone explosions Reuters October 9, 2003, 5:29 AM PT URL: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-5088681.html Nokia on Thursday pointed the finger at counterfeit batteries after another of its phones exploded and burned its user, the third such case in two months, and said that original batteries sold with its phones were safe. The Finnish phone giant said earlier that a young Vietnamese woman was hospitalized with burns after her mobile phone apparently exploded. The incident postdates two similar accidents in the Netherlands, one last week and the other in August. After the latest Dutch incident, which left a 15-year-old boy in the town of Hengelo with leg burns, the country's consumer watchdog said it would probe the case. "We don't yet have any information on what is the origin of the battery in the Vietnam case," Nokia Mobile Phones spokesman Kari Tuutti told Reuters, adding that there "hasn't been a single case of an original battery exploding anywhere in the world." Nokia has cited faulty batteries from independent electronics manufacturers for similar incidents in the past. The company has said these manufacturers violated security requirements that should prevent the battery heating up after short-circuiting, for instance, after the phone is dropped. Contraband and counterfeit mobile phone batteries are widely available in Vietnam in local markets at around $2 to $3 apiece, compared with $20 for a genuine product, a local Nokia representative said. "The biggest issue is with counterfeit, illegal batteries," Tuutti said. "Therefore we recommend that retailers and consumers try to verify the products sold have original batteries." Mobile phones are becoming increasingly popular in Vietnam despite modest incomes. There are around 1.6 million mobile phone users among the population of 80 million.  |  IP: Logged Michael Gonzalez Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 790 From: Grand Island , NE USA Registered: Sep 2000 posted 10-09-2003 09:38 PM                     Hey Gerald I am guessing that you read Tom Clancy because the exploding cell phone plot to kill a terrorist was used in one of his books. Although I am pretty sure that this didn't happen for real, I could be wrong.  |  IP: Logged

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